There are few places in China as wild and beautiful as the Three Parallel Rivers national park. Deep in the Meili Xue Shan mountain range, in the remote north-western corner of Yunnan, close to the border with northern Burma, it's straight out of Lost Horizon by James Hilton. Soaring, glaciated peaks, Tibetan Buddhist¹ monasteries² floating in the clouds, lush terraced valleys and virgin³ Himalayan forest all collect in this area which, according to Unesco, is "one of the richest temperate⁴ regions of the world in terms of biodiversity". It's a designated world heritage site and covers more than 960, 000 hectares, with buffer⁵ zones almost the same size.

三江国家公园，地处云南西北，深藏梅里雪山，紧邻缅甸北部，真的就像詹姆斯.希尔顿（James Hilton, Lost Horizon,詹姆斯.希尔顿，1900-1954，英国作家，《消失的地平线》为其传世名作）笔下的桃园：那条消失的地平线，划出的是一片远离都市喧嚣、绚烂瑰丽的土地，普天之下再难有哪片山水能与之比肩。白雪皑皑的峰顶，云间飘渺的寺庙，雄伟起伏的峡谷和喜马拉雅的原始森林，都汇聚于斯。联合国教科文组织对这片土地的评价是，“自然条件最有宜于生物多样性的地区之一。”9万6千公顷，还有几乎同样面积的缓冲区，让这里成为名副其实的世界遗产。

Only one thing had held me back from visiting this extraordinary area and that was the thought of remote Chinese hotels. Anyone who has stayed at tired government-run places with their dodgy plumbing⁶ and questionable⁷ bed linen⁸ will understand my reticence⁹.

但是，有一件事却足以挡住我流连美景的脚步，那就是中国偏远地区的旅店质量。在这些由政府负责运营的景区，任何人只要经历过了时不时闹闹罢工的下水管道，糟糕的床单，可能都不会对我的无奈无动于衷。

However, in May this year, Songtsam lodges¹¹ announced the opening of two new boutique hotels, in Benzilan on the Jinsha river, and further north in the Meili mountains near Deqin. The latter is about 50 miles from the Tibetan border.

不过，在今年五月，松赞酒店宣布两家精品酒店开业。一家位于金沙江西岸的奔子栏（Benzilan，地名，藏语意为“美丽的沙坝”），另一家距离西藏自治区界大约50英里，位于梅里雪山以北，靠近云南德清。

Songtsam also has two comfortable hotels in the area now known as Shangri-la. (In 2001, in a canny¹² move to encourage tourism to this remote spot, the Chinese government renamed the region of Zhongdian after the fictional¹³ remote utopian lamasery in Hilton's book. The ploy¹⁴ appears to have worked.)

松赞在香格里拉也拥有两家舒适的酒店。香格里拉这个名字也早已家喻户晓。（在2001年，中国政府重新将这一地区命名为“中甸”，根据的就是《消失的地平线》一书中那片世外桃源的名字，事实证明这一旨在吸引更多的游客来此观光的做法非常明智。）

Songtsam is now opening a series of small lodges in some of the most scenic¹⁵ parts of this region, forming a circuit that can be done as a package including local guides and drivers. The lure¹⁶ of stylish¹⁷ rooms and heady Tibetan vistas¹⁸, was irresistible¹⁹.

在著名的景区，松赞酒店正在开发一系列山区精品酒店，并着手打造包含当地导游和司机的一条龙旅游线路。窗明几净的房间和美妙的湖光山色，谁能拒绝的了呢？

I set off with my husband in early October, hoping for clear, cold weather and mountains clad in scarlet²⁰ and gold forests. Since Meili is 3, 600m above sea level, we spent a few days in Lijiang (2, 400m), another Unesco site, to acclimatise before driving for six hours along the now popular route to Shangri-la, via the spectacular Tiger Leaping Gorge²¹. The region is home to around 25 ethnic²² groups, including Naxi, Yi and Tibetan people.

十月初，我和我丈夫打点好行囊，目标是找到清冷纯净的空气，还有覆满红色和金色森林的群山。梅里雪山海拔3600米，为了能减缓高原反应，我们在海拔2400米的丽江停留了几天，这里也获得了联合国教科文组织的高度评价。之后，沿着现在流行的线路，我们驱车六个小时，途径虎跳峡，最终来到了香格里拉——纳西族、彝族和藏族等25个少数民族的家乡。

As we climbed ever higher on twisting mountain roads, we left behind the lush Naxi farmland and pretty Yi villages clinging to the lower hillsides, and entered what was once Tibet. It officially became Yunnan when the Chinese government redefined the borders in 1951. Stupas and fluttering prayer flags clung to rocky outcrops, and sturdy white Tibetan houses dotted the landscape. You know you're nearing Shangri-la when the landscape flattens²³ out into rolling pasture surrounded by mountain peaks.

顺着蜿蜒的山路向前，美丽的纳西族农田和精致的彝族村庄已渐渐消失在我们身后的山边。随着海拔越走越高，我们来到了一处原属于西藏自治区的地方，1951年重新划界之后，这里归属云南。佛塔和经幡矗立在多石的土地上。放眼望去，洁白且结实藏式房屋星星点点。随着风景延伸开去，一片山峰环绕的草原进入眼帘之时，一切了然，香格里拉就在前方。

At 3, 300m our hotel, the Songtsam Shangri-la, looks over the back of the towering Songzangling monastery²⁴ – the largest in Yunnan. Once home to 4, 000 monks²⁵, the monastery is undergoing a massive restoration. Tourism is funding the gold-leaf-clad roofs, but it is also creeping into the more remote regions of Yunnan.

在海拔3300米的松赞香格里拉酒店，可以看到云南最大的寺庙——松赞林寺宏伟的背影。最多时这里曾有4000名僧侣，现在，松赞林寺正在经历一次大规模的维修。旅游业为鎏金叶覆盖的屋顶提供了维修资金，也资助了云南更为偏远的地区。

Even here, where the Milky²⁶ Way still forms a great smudge across the night sky, you can see the huge concrete pillars of a new highway being built around a far-away mountain. But it's easy to forget modernity as you lie in a snug²⁷, futon-like Tibetan bed and drift to sleep to the sound of bells tinkling²⁸ from a herd²⁹ of zos, a crossbreed of cow and yak³⁰, grazing in a frosty meadow.

就算在这片世外桃源，在银河划过的夜空下，远处正在修建的环山高速公路的一根根混凝土支柱依旧依稀可见。窗外，一群牦牛正在寒冷的草远上觅食，此时，躺在舒适如蒲团一般的藏式床榻上，伴随着它们颈上的铜铃叮当缓缓入眠，现代都市的喧嚣早已被我们抛诸脑后。

From Shangri-la onwards, my feelings flipped³¹ back and forth³² from wonder at the sheer natural beauty to horror at the power of 21st-century industrial development. Large tracks of road were being rebuilt, in a bumpy³³ hell of swirling³⁴ dust, truck fumes³⁵, temporary cement factories and ragged³⁶ roadside habitation. Huge scars were cut into the thickly wooded mountains as the road was excavated³⁷ and rubble³⁸ tipped down the side of the mountain.

从香格里拉向前，我的感觉在奇思和忧虑中摇摆不安：瑰丽的自然景色究竟能否在21世纪工业发展的轰鸣中幸存？这里建立起了大型路网，在颠簸的道路上，喷着烟的卡车扬起滚滚尘土，还有临时的水泥厂和道旁的简易住房……开掘的道路和一堆堆推撒在山边的瓦砾，就像巨大的伤痕嵌刻在山峦上，划过茂密的森林。

In a year or two, this mountain highway will bring 21st-century benefits to isolated³⁹ communities, but it will take time for the landscape to recover and you can't escape a sense that the life you see will soon vanish.

一两年后，这条山间高速将把所有21世纪的先进技术带进这片桃园，但是往日的风景何时才能回复却遥遥无期，秀美山川即将消失的可能成了挥之不去的梦魇。

The vistas changed with every twist and turn of the road. One minute a verdant⁴⁰, terraced valley dotted with houses stretched out below. This was the Nixi valley, where in dark, dusty rooms, each household still makes ornate black pottery⁴¹. The next minute we were climbing into forests of Yunnan pine and spruce that are carpeted with tiny, intensely coloured alpine⁴² flowers.

峰回路转，每一次转弯都带来不通的景致。这一分钟，一片青翠的山谷从山下延展开来印入眼帘，一所所房屋点缀其间。这就是尼西山谷，在这里，人们还保留着在昏暗且覆满尘土的房间里制作陶器饰物的习俗；而下一分钟，我们就已经置身于云南松木和云杉的汪洋之中，而那细小的高山花朵更是俯拾皆是。

As the morning drifted by, we drove through idyllic⁴³ valleys where plum-coloured birds perched on telephone wires and every house was surrounded with roses, geraniums and marigolds. Groves⁴⁴ of willow⁴⁵ and walnut⁴⁶ trees sheltered pretty terraces of vines, maize⁴⁷, pumpkins⁴⁹ and potatoes. Chickens, pigs and small children ran free – boys and girls in rural communities are sent away to huge Chinese boarding schools once they reach the age of seven. Farmers doggedly⁵⁰ carried baskets of manure⁵¹ on their backs from farmyard to field. Animals live at the bottom of Tibetan houses and food is stored at the top. People may not be hungry, but this is farming at its most basic.

日上三竿之后，我们的车子驶过一条田园诗般的山谷。金盏花，天竺葵和玫瑰花环绕着房屋盛开，紫红色羽毛的鸟儿在电线上盘桓。柳树和核桃树荫护着参差的葡萄藤蔓，玉米，南瓜和土豆也在树荫下生长。放养的家禽和牲畜，和孩子们一样自由自在。在这里，无论男孩女孩，到了7岁的时候就会被送到大型的寄宿学校。农人们固执地把装着肥料的篮子背在身后，从农家小院一路走到田里。藏式房屋的底层饲养着家畜，而食物储存在房顶。人们并不会忍饥挨饿，但务农是这里的生活之道。

After three hours we stopped at Benzilan, the first of the new Songtsam lodges. The air was warm in this sheltered valley and we sat under a wisteria and gazed out over farmland before visiting the village. We'd seen brooks⁵² tumbling down every valley, and here one powered a little wooden threshing wheel. Animals rootled along the road, and each house had maize, marigolds, pine kernels⁵³, garlic and chillies drying in the autumn sun. Back at the hotel, we slipped on Chinese slippers⁵⁴ and ate tiny, crispy bamboo skewers⁵⁵ of sesame-coated yak and spiced steamed pumpkin⁴⁸ and potato with Tibetan bread.

三个小时后我们到达奔子栏，停在了新开的松赞酒店。这里气候宜人，十分温暖，我们坐在紫藤蔓下，静静地观察着即将拜访的村庄。溪流在我们的眼中沿着山谷倾斜而下，为打谷的水车提供了动力。牲畜沿着小路不知在翻找着什么，秋日暖阳下，每家每户都在院子里晒着玉米，金盏花，松子，大蒜和红辣椒。回到酒店，蹬着中式拖鞋，我们享受了丰盛的一餐：竹烤牦牛肉上还洒满了芝麻，辣味的蒸南瓜以及土豆配藏式面包。

Our bedroom was simple but comfortable. At dawn, a villager walked clockwise around a white stupa, set high up over the valley. Smoke curled up into the pink sky from the newly lit pine needles in an incense⁵⁶ burner. Tibetan Buddhism⁵⁷ is an integral part of life here, and the catchy⁵⁸ soundtrack of religious songs written by a famous 17th-century Tibetan lama accompanied our drive.

我们的卧室简约舒适。傍晚，我们看到一个村民绕着佛塔顺时针走了一圈，这座塔的高度已经超过了山谷。香炉中点燃的松针轻烟袅袅，飘向粉红色的天际。藏传佛教是这里人们生活的重要组成部分。17世纪的一位著名僧侣创作了许多朗朗上口的宗教歌曲，我们的行程也因此并不寂寞孤单。

As we passed through further road works, I thought about a meeting I'd had back in Lijiang with Lushan Jizhen He, who works for the Nature Conservancy in the Three Parallel Rivers region. I'd quizzed her about the pressures on natural resources from wood-felling, and efforts to protect endangered species such as the snub-nosed Yunnan monkey and the black-necked crane. She had exuded⁵⁹ positive energy as she outlined a raft of preventive strategies aimed at changing local practices, such as outlawing⁶⁰ poaching and illegal logging, introducing cheap sustainable power, education and eco-tourism.

当我们通过还在建设的道路时，我想到了回到丽江之后的一次会面，和Lushan Jizhen He，她为三江流域自然管理委员会工作。我得问问她关于乱砍乱伐给生态资源带来的压力，还有濒危物种的保护，像云南的短鼻猴和黑颈鹤。她努力地构建了一个保护性策略，旨在改变当地的一些做法，比如说制止盗猎和非法砍伐，还有引进可持续的廉价能源，教育体系以及环境友好型的旅游业。

I had been a little sceptical, having seen men selling hawks⁶¹ for hunting in the mountains and an abundance of furs for sale – even though our guide had assured me the latter were farmed. But this journey was changing my perspective. Everywhere we went, we saw solar water heaters and biogas being used in place of wood. Trees had been planted on mountains laid bare by deforestation. Apparently⁶² even the monks were preaching that hunting was anti-Buddhist.

只是，仅剩的一点点疑问并未消散，因为我不仅看到有人为了在山中捕猎而贩卖老鹰，还有大量的皮毛待价而沽——尽管导游说这些皮毛来自豢养的动物。不过，这一趟旅行也改变了我的看法。无论走到哪里，我们都能看见太阳能热水器和沼气取代了木炭。因为滥伐而荒芜的山上也种上了树木。很明显，僧侣们也开始教授人们捕猎是违反禅的教义的。

It's the old dilemma⁶³, how do you improve life for the very poor, while at the same time protecting the environment? Perhaps tourism could open a door to further environmental protection. Songtsam lodges are working hand in hand with NGOs around the world to help educate their staff and their families, providing them with new, more sustainable ways of earning money.

如何在提高人们生活水平的前提下，同时保护环境免遭破坏？这是一个古老的两难。也许，旅游业可以为长远的环境保护打开一扇大门。松赞酒店就和世界上各种非政府组织携手合作，教育它的员工和他们的家庭如何保护环境，如何以更新颖，更具有可持续性的方式致富。

Suddenly, just below more road excavations⁶⁴, we came across the ethereal 17th-century Dong Zhu Lin monastery, which seemed to float above a deep valley. Wandering through its richly painted halls, I understood how different Tibetan Buddhism is from other Buddhist schools. Graphic⁶⁵ shamanistic paintings cover its walls, while the statues are more like Hindu gods than Buddhas⁶⁶. There were monks chanting in the main hall while others delicately tapped out brilliantly toned pigments⁶⁷ to create a richly coloured mandala nearby. Outside, ravens⁶⁸ circled and the wind rang the temple roofs bells.

突然间，在开掘的道路下面，我们看到了17世纪修建的东竹林寺，轻灵飘渺的寺院仿佛漂浮在深谷之中。走过它充满雕廊画壁的大厅，我理解了藏传佛教和其他形式的佛学是多么的不同。墙壁上是生动的萨满式绘画，但画中形象在我看来却有些类似印度教的众神。僧侣们在主厅中唱经，户外乌鸦的叫声，和屋顶的铃铛在清风中的清脆交织在一起。

By the time we entered the Baimang Snow Mountain nature reserve it was impossible not to be swept away by the scenery. Glistening⁶⁹, snowy peaks towered over the rolling highland⁷⁰ moors⁷¹ of copper-leafed wild azaleas which in May form a sea of flowers. Monolithic⁷² rusty⁷³ purple rocks jutted⁷⁴ at odd angles high above us as we reached a barren high pass, marked by a thousand prayer flags.

从靠近白芒雪山的那一刻起，壮美的景色就彻底征服了我们。5月间的野生红叶杜鹃在这绵延起伏的高原荒野上连成一片花海，一座柔润洁白的山峰屹立在花海之间。光秃秃的山路上，树立着一千面经幡。各种生锈了一般的紫色怪石探出身子，奇形怪状地耸立在山的高处。

Finally, we descended⁷⁵ to Songtsam Meili at Deqin, amid bubbling streams and wild woods of rhododendrons, berberis and pines draped in lichen⁷⁶. The forest shimmered⁷⁷ scarlet, gold and dark green in the brilliant light. We stepped into the warm comfort of the stone lodge¹⁰ – all wood stoves, rare old rugs and vases of wild berries – but our eyes were constantly drawn⁷⁸ to the view.

最后，我们下山回到了被氤氲的云气和杜鹃花木包围着的梅里松赞酒店，这里的灌木和松树都附上了一层青苔。在阳光的照耀下，红色、金色和墨绿在林间交相辉映，踩着这样的光芒，迎接我们的是温暖舒适的石制酒店。烧柴的炉火，罕见的壁毯和装满野生浆果的花瓶，尽管这些都夺人眼目，但我们的注意力还是很快被窗外的风景所吸引。

Every one of the 17 rooms looks on to the sacred Meili Snow Mountain (Kawagebo in Tibetan). As we sipped⁷⁹ our sweet ginger⁸⁰ tea, I felt that this is why we travel. Before me lay the delicious possibility of clambering up the mountain behind the hotel to see yaks⁸¹ grazing in a meadow or riding up to the Mingyong glacier⁸². For the time being, I was content to gaze at the snowy Tibetan mountains rising out of the clouds. As I watched, they glowed pink in the setting sun before turning silver in the moonlight.

这座酒店的17个房间，每一个都被包裹在梅里雪山神圣的景致之中。放眼梅里雪山，啜饮着甘甜的姜茶，虽然当时还没有真的爬上这座屹立在酒店后方的雪山，还没有看到在草原上吃草的牦牛，还没有领略明永冰川的风光，但我已感受到，什么才是旅行的意义。云聚云散之间，藏地山川若隐若现，从落日的余晖下，到皎洁的月光中，粉红的峰顶渐渐洒上了一片银辉，望着这自然的神奇，一种满足感油然而生。